State of the Automobile Restoration Industry

There are over 248,000,000 vehicles in operation in the United States with an average age of over 9 years for cars and 7 years for light trucks. 80% of these vehicles have some type of minor cosmetic damage such as door dings, scuffed bumpers and key scratches. The majority of the people who start an automotive cosmetic repair business initially work with car dealers fixing this minor damage. There are 20,700 Class A Car Dealers in the United States who last year sold approximately 11,400,000 used vehicles. Another 26,600,000 used vehicles were sold by smaller Used Car Dealers for a total of around 38,000,000 used vehicles being sold in 2007. 80% of these had around $90 worth of cosmetic damage for a total market of over $2.7 Billion.

The Automotive Restoration Industry has seen a steady increase in growth which coincides directly with the need for Automobile Dealers to find new profit centers and the closing of their body shops. Today, only 37% of dealerships have body shops, down from a high of over 65% in the 1980's and this downward trend seems destined to continue. Dealership profits from the sale of new vehicles have been declining for years with the average dealership actually losing over $40,000 in 2007. This dramatic loss of income from the sale of new vehicles has forced them to focus efforts on other departments such as Used Cars and Service which has been fantastic for our industry.

Mobile vendors today find themselves offering more service on more vehicles than ever before. The bottom line is that vehicles sitting on a dealer's lot need to look as good as possible and without an in-house body shop, a dealer has no choice other than to use a mobile vendor. The average selling price of Pre-Owned vehicle in the United States is almost $16,000 and today's consumer is simply not willing to spend that much money on a vehicle that is not in excellent condition.

Paint Bull has been at the forefront of this ever changing industry since 1989. We not only are the countries largest dedicated training center, but also operate a fleet of mobile vans servicing the Mid-Michigan area and a retail store we call Paint Bull Express. You will find we stand behind our industry with innovative techniques and technology such as our exclusive Palm Base paint formula retrieval system. Simply put, unlike any other training center in the country, we practice what we preach and have the first hand know how and experience to insure your success.